The Power of 1(0): A Guide to Living the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule in Modern Times

By Denise Alexander Pyle

The modern world can be a hectic, confused place. Every day we are bombarded with disparate, discordant messages about what's right and what's wrong, where we should go, what we should have, and who we should trust. But what if there was a simple way to find harmony amid the discord? What if there was a way to find guidance and direction that could help all of us make the world a better place?

In The Power of 1(0), author Denise Alexander Pyle invites us to consider the power and the promise of living by the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule—the ten and the one—as we journey through life. Each chapter discusses and expands on one of the Ten Commandments, including a reference to the corresponding ten spheres or components on the kabbalistic tree of life. The kabbalah is an ancient mystical belief system and teaching that emanated from Judaism and reveals how the universe and our lives work. While many believe that it is the basis for Jesus's teachings in the New Testament, no matter your religious or spiritual background, The Power of 1(0) offers a pluralistic, universal message that can encourage you to pursue your true purpose and attain true joy.

Whether you worship God, Allah, the Source, the Creator, the Universe, or the Force, we are all on this journey here together. May the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule be our guide in reaching for this unity together, all as one.

The Power of 1(0) was chosen as one of the Spirited Woman top 12 book pick lists on www.thespiritedwoman.com.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Feb 22, 2018
• ISBN: 9781504398275

Denise Alexander Pyle

Denise Alexander Pyle is truly blessed and grateful to have had the opportunity to share the message that the power of ten is the power of one and all. In writing The Power of 1(0), she gives thanks to her one—God—and to her all—her family, friends, teachers, masters, guides, enlightened individuals, and lessons that have inspired, encouraged, and educated her along the journey. Denise currently lives in Marion, Indiana.

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Copyright © 2018 Denise Alexander Pyle.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

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This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

ISBN: 978-1-5043-9826-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5043-9828-2 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5043-9827-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018902165

Balboa Press rev. date: 03/06/2018

Contents

The Ten Commandments

The Golden Rule

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Preface

Introduction: The Tree of Life

Chapter 1 I Am the Lord Your God

Chapter 2 Have No Other Gods Before Me

Chapter 3 Do Not Misuse the Name of God

Chapter 4 Keep the Sabbath Holy

Chapter 5 Honor Your Father and Mother

Chapter 6 Do Not Kill

Chapter 7 Do Not Commit Adultery

Chapter 8 Do Not Steal

Chapter 9 Do Not Bear False Witness against Your Neighbor

Chapter 10 Do Not Covet Your Neighbor’s Belongings

Conclusion

Appendix

References

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™ All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from the Douay-Rheims Bible.

The Ten Commandments

1. I Am the Lord Your God

2. Have No Other Gods before Me

3. Do Not Misuse the Name of God

4. Keep the Sabbath Holy

5. Honor Your Father and Mother

6. Do Not Kill

7. Do Not Commit Adultery

8. Do Not Steal

9. Do Not Bear False Witness against Your Neighbor

10. Do Not Covet Your Neighbor’s Belongings

The Golden Rule

As You Do Unto Others, So Do You Do to Yourself

or

Do Unto Others as You Would Have Them Do unto You

Dedication

To Steve, you walk the walk and always have my back.

Acknowledgments

I am truly blessed and grateful and wish to acknowledge and give thanks to my one, God, and my all, the family, friends, teachers, masters, guides, enlightened individuals and lessons that have inspired, encouraged and educated me along this journey. All is love! May we continue to evolve and become the best version of ourselves in this life time.

Preface

I believe if each of us consciously lived by the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule, which I call the Power of 1(0), our world would be a much better place. Sadly, few individuals today really do live by them. Do you understand these instructions that humans were given for living life on this planet? What do you really know about the Ten Commandments? Do you live by the Golden Rule?

This book is about learning to better understand these principles and use them in our daily lives. The zero is in parenthesis because even without the Ten Commandments, the Golden Rule is also always there to govern our existence.

Each chapter discusses and expands on one of the Ten Commandments, along with a reference to the corresponding ten spheres or components on the kabbalistic tree of life. The kabbalah is an ancient mystical belief system and teaching that emanated from Judaism and reveals how the universe and our lives work. The kabbalah forms the foundation of several mystical religious schools and secret societies, including Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism, and the Utah Mystery School, although numerous similar societies claim kabbalistic roots in combination with Christian, occult, and other New Age spiritual philosophies. Many believe that the kabbalah is actually the basis for the New Testament. Jesus taught his disciples these teachings, which at the time were forbidden to be shared with the masses, using parables and stories to provide a way back to God. The reference in the New Testament that he died by the tree was a reference to the kabbalah.¹ I have included in the appendix a brief summary explaining the significance of each of the ten circles, although this book is not intended to be a study in kabbalah.

The tree of life is also one of two trees depicted in the biblical story of the garden of Eden. As you will learn in this book, there is a parallel relationship between the Ten Commandments and the tree of life that, either by God’s design or by coincidence, is relevant to the meaning of this work (although I personally don’t believe in coincidence). In some Jewish prayer books, the Torah and Ten Commandments are both referred to as the tree of life.² I intend for this book to serve as a tool for you to use as you proceed upon your own life’s journey in the pursuit of your true purpose and the attainment of true joy. As individuals, we each do make a small difference. In unity, we alter the history of mankind and our magnificent planet.

This book is meant to have universal application. Although the term God is used frequently, you can substitute what you believe defines the One. Whether you worship or believe in the Judeo-Christian God (and any biblical names associated therewith), Allah, the Source, the Creator, the Universe, or the Force, we are all on this journey here on earth together.

Introduction: The Tree of Life

Moses ascended Mt. Sinai and received a tablet from God (or some higher source) that was inscribed with the guide for our ultimate survival on this planet: the Ten Commandments.³ Without strict adherence to its tenets, we cannot maintain our equilibrium, and we ultimately fall prey to the dark forces that manifest within and around us.

Life is a gift. Your life on this planet was divinely sparked by a cosmic thought. God said, Let there be light,⁴ and so it began. It was no accident. The particles of light from which we all originate both charged and molded with earthly matter, choosing an exciting but challenging planet! The elements that form this existence are comprised of properties that allow for the creation of tremendous sensory indulgences, which become forever imbedded as part of our life essence or our souls. We can create and experience whatever thought the mind can invoke. Visual beauty, the sounds of music, the taste of food, the touch of another being, and stimulating aromas are all locked within our beings to be unleashed and enjoyed. Our time here is both material and mystical and is quantifiable by how we use our gifts to create as many imprints on our souls as we can before our time on earth is completed. But we must navigate through sometimes difficult choices so as not to darken our pure essence and dim that light while we work through our souls’ divine purpose this time around.

Will we manifest our own divine creative light and evolve to our highest potential? Or will we become victims to the rising dark forces around us and within our shadow selves?

First, we were in oneness with the universe. We now exist from the thoughts we created, just as the Creator spoke, and so it was. It is our purpose. We exist in many dimensions but have now descended to the kingdom of earth to build our respective temples with infinite building blocks at our disposal. The physical matter from which our bodies are derived has density and weight, and it is cold and lifeless until charged by the divine forces of light. There is a direct correlation between the amount of light that is absorbed into this matter and the creative results that are produced. The lighter we become, the more joy we can experience.

These murky materials that produce our temporal houses also have dark, intoxicating properties that mask our ability to truly savor the experience and block out our view of the light from which we emanated. They are made up of chemical compounds that interrupt the flow of light, and as we see on a daily basis, certain substances actually cause debilitating drug and alcohol addictions. Like a magnet, we are attracted to the material aspects of the planet, and we fall victim to the desire to acquire more than we need on a multitude of levels. Yet we learn that more money doesn’t mean more happiness. The quest for excess fame, wealth, or power consumes our light force.

Time and again, we use and lose the knowledge of the purpose for which we have chosen to incarnate (or reincarnate, because I believe if we are all part of the divine collective when we leave this planet, then some part of us can return again). We have the opportunity to use our light force to create all that is good. But it is all too easy for people, no matter how good their original intention was, to use their powers like Darth Vader did in Star Wars, to do evil or cause chaos and destruction. History has proven over and over that when this occurs, mankind has suffered and fallen into dark times, waiting for some divine intervention to return us to the path of enlightenment. The correct path is really never hidden from view if we understand how to follow the Ten Commandments. We are truly at one of those pivotal crossroads today. It’s time to take direction and start using our map!

Adam and Eve and the Tree of Knowledge

To help us on our journey, God and our spiritual forefathers and mothers who traveled here in earlier times left behind instructions: the Ten Commandments. They hoped to prevent us from suffering the ill-fated mistakes of those before us. And yet for many, those instructions appear veiled and are not always readily understood.

Many of the stories from the Bible are intended to serve like ancient myths, each with a moral to be imparted. From the very beginning, we are told that God instructed Adam and Eve to not eat from the other tree in the garden of Eden, the tree of knowledge. The serpent tempted Eve, and they ate the fruit and were expelled from the garden.

What was the knowledge that caused Adam and Eve to fall from grace? What does this allegory about the first man and woman on earth truly represent? The tree of knowledge depicts that there is a world of choices to be made between good and evil, and once they disobeyed